Capsular medical apparatus

ABSTRACT

A capsular medical apparatus according to the present invention includes a capsule which can be swallowed or inserted in the body, a recording device which receives living body information transmitted from the capsule and which records the received information, and a display device of the living body information. Further, the capsular medical apparatus includes a USB connector which connects and disconnects the recording device and the display device, a voltage detecting circuit which detects the connection between the recording device and the display device, and a USB cable which transmits the living body information to the display device from the recording device.

This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser.No. 10/846,970 filed on May 14, 2004, which is based upon and claims thebenefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No.2003-136395 filed on May 14, 2003; the entire contents of each of whichare incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a capsular medical apparatus forobtaining living body information.

2. Description of the Related Art

Recently, there is a capsular medical apparatus which easily examinesthe body by the capsule shape that facilitates the swallowing of apatient.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,531 discloses a potable storage unitand a stationary storage unit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, a capsular medical apparatuscomprises a capsule which can be swallowed or inserted in the body, arecording device which receives living body information transmitted fromthe capsule and which records the received information, and a displaydevice of the living body information. The capsular medical apparatusfurther comprises attaching/detaching means which connects anddisconnects the recording device and the display device, detecting meanswhich detects the connection between the recording device and thedisplay device, and transfer means which transfers the living bodyinformation to the display device from the recording device. Theoperation or the like is checked by connecting the display device uponstarting the apparatus or the like. When the operation check or the likeis unnecessary, the display device is detached and thus the load of thepatient is reduced.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the inventionwill become more clearly understood from the following descriptionreferring to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 to 7 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG.1 is a diagram showing the structure of a capsular medical apparatus,FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow for adding time information toimage data received by a recording device and recording the information,FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an image format additionally having a timestamp on the received image, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a displayexample of the image additionally having the time stamp on the displaydevice, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example of an imageincluding contents of parameter setting upon displaying the receivingstrength at a designated time interval, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing adisplay example of an image for corresponding examination by clicking atab in a state in which a plurality of examinations are opened, FIG. 7is a diagram showing a display example of an image displayed at thecorresponding piece interval by selecting the number of divisions,

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the structure of a capsular medicalapparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the structure of a capsule endoscopeapparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described withreference to FIGS. 1 to 7.

Referring to FIG. 1, a capsular medical apparatus 1 according to thefirst embodiment of the present invention comprises: a capsular in-bodyunit 3 which is inserted in the body by swallowing or insertingoperation or the like and which picks up an image (hereinafter,abbreviated to a capsule); a recording device 4 which is arrangedoutside the body and receives, by radio waves, living body informationtransmitted from a capsule 3 and which records the data; and a displaydevice 5 which is connected detachably (attached and detached) to therecording device 4 and which displays the living body information. Therecording device 4 and the display device 5 form an extracorporealdevice 6.

The recording device 4 has small size and light weight for recording(storing) image data transmitted from the capsule 3 so as to be attachedto a white cloth or jacket of a patient. Upon displaying the image so asto check the operation or the like, the recording device 4 is connectedto the display device 5 having a function for displaying the image onthe recording device 4 by a USB cable 26.

In the capsule 3, at one end portion (front end) in an accommodatingcontainer 10 that is capsule-shaped and is sealed, an illuminating andobserving window 11 that is semi-spherical and contains a transparentmember is formed. Further, in the capsule 3, an objective optical system12 is attached to a lens frame facing the center portion of theilluminating and observing window 11, and four white LEDs 13 or the likeare respectively arranged as light emitting elements formingilluminating means at four positions or the like around the objectiveoptical system 12.

A CMOS sensor 14 or the like is arranged, as an image sensor forobtaining image information on the living body, at the position forforming images in the objective optical system 12. The CMOS sensor 14comprises, on the back surface side, a signal processing circuit 15which generates the image data (e.g., JPEG data) that is obtained byperforming the signal processing of the CMOS sensor 14 and compressingthe processed data; a communication circuit 16 for radio communication;and a plurality of button batteries 17 which feed the power foroperation to the CMOS sensor 14 and the signal processing circuit 15.

Further, at the side portion adjacent to the CMOS sensor 14, an antenna18, which is connected to the communication circuit 16 and whichirradiates and receives the electric waves for radio communication with(antennas 21 a to 21 c) of the extracorporeal recording device 4, isprovided. Also at the rear end adjacent to the plurality of buttonbatteries 17, a switch 19, which performs the on/off operation of thepower supply, is provided. The CMOS sensor 14, the signal processingcircuit 15, and the communication circuit 16 are electrically connectedby a flexible substrate 20. Further, the flexible substrate 20 isconnected to the plurality of button batteries 17 via the switch 19.

On the other hand, the extracorporeal recording device 4 comprises: anantenna unit 22 to which the plurality of antennas 21 a to 21 c areconnected; a recording processing block 24 that is accommodated in acasing 23 to which the antenna unit 22 is detachably connected and thatrecords image data; and a power supply block 25 which supplies power tothe recording processing block 24 and the like.

The recording device 4 is detachably connected to the display device 5by the USB cable 26 (as data transfer means for transferring data to thedisplay device 5 from the recording device 4). By connecting the displaydevice 5 to the recording device 4 via the USB cable 26, the imagereceived by the recording device 4 and the image stored in the recordingdevice 4 are transferred to the display device 5 side. The displaydevice 5 performs the decompressing processing of the transferred imagedata, displays the processed data on the display screen, andsimultaneously edits and displays a plurality of images.

In addition to one terminal on the recording device 4 side in the USBcable 26 and the other terminal on the display device 5, a conductiveterminal is provided. The USB cable 26 is freely detachably connected tothe conductive terminal of the USB connector of the recording device 4and the conductive terminal of the USB connector of the display device5.

The antenna unit 22 has an exterior case containing a resin casing 22 awhose inner or external surface is subjected to the shielding processingsuch as metal plating. The antenna unit 22 comprises: an antennaselector 32 which switches the antennas 21 a to 21 c connected theretoby a coaxial cable 31; a high-frequency circuit (abbreviated to an RFcircuit) 33 which communicates data by radio waves and which isconnected to the antennas 21 a to 21 c via the antenna selector 32; abase band circuit (abbreviated to a BB circuit) 34 which generates thebase band signal that is demodulated by the RF circuit 33; and aconnector 35 which is detachably connected to the recording device 4.

A portion for handing the high-frequency signal, mainly including the RFcircuit 33, is sealed in the antenna unit 22. A connecting portion tothe recording device 4 in the connector 35 handles only the base bandsignal (and antenna switching signal). Thus, the reliability and thestability of the operation are improved.

The casing 23 of the recording device 4 is made of metal or (shieldingprocessed) resin, and accommodates a power supply block 25 and arecording processing block 24.

The power supply block 25 comprises: batteries 36 a and 36 b arranged inparallel therewith; switches 37 a and 37 b which are serially connectedto the batteries 36 a and 36 b; a power supply monitoring circuit 38which monitors voltages of the batteries 36 a and 36 b and enables oneof the switches 37 a and 37 b; and a DC/DC converter 39 which isconnected to the ON-operation battery and converts the voltage into DCpower of a voltage value necessary for the recording processing block24.

The DC current of the DC/DC converter 39 is supplied to the antenna unit22 side via the connector 35 as well as the recording processing block24.

The recording processing block 24 comprises: a CPU 40 which controls therecording device 4; a CPU 41 which mainly controls the antenna unit 22;a real-time clock (abbreviated to an RTC) which is connected to both theCPUs 40 and 41, manages the time, and outputs information on the dateupon receiving the image; an address selector 43 which is connected toboth the CPUs 40 and 41 and is connected to the antenna selector 32; amemory (SRAM) 44 which is connected to the address selector 43 andtemporarily stores data from the selected antenna selector 32; a PC cardcontroller 46 which is connected to both the CPUs 40 and 41 and controlsthe operation for writing the data to a PC card memory 45; a PCMCIA slot47 which is connected to the PC card controller 46; the PC card memory45 which is detachably connected to the PCMCIA slot 47 and storesreceived and demodulated image data (JPEG data); a USB driver 48 whichperforms the processing for transferring data to the display device 5via the USB cable 26 when the display device 5 is connected to therecording device 4 via the USB cable 26; a voltage detecting circuit 49,(as detecting means which detects the connection between the recordingdevice 4 and the display device 5), which detects the connection to thedisplay device 5 by using the voltage; and an oscillator (OSC) 50 whichsupplies reference clocks to the CPU 41 and the like.

The CPU 40 determines whether or not it is connected to the displaydevice 5 based on the level of (the signal of) the voltage of thevoltage detecting circuit 49. The CPU 40 transmits a control signal foropening or closing a gate to a clock gate 48 a provided for the USBdriver 48, and controls the operation of the USB driver 48.

That is, in a state in which a predetermined voltage is detected and thedisplay device 5 is connected to the CUP 40, the clock gate 48 a isopened, thus to supply a clock CLK to the USB driver 48. Further, theUSB driver 48 is set to the operating state. Then, the CPU 40 recordsthe image data received by the antenna unit 22 to the PC card memory 45and transmits the recorded data to the display device 5 side via the USBdriver 48.

In a state in which the predetermined voltage is not detected and thedisplay device 5 is not connected to the CPU 40, the CPU 40 closes theclock gate 48 a and sets a standby mode in which the clock CLK is notsupplied to the USB driver 48 and controls the operation for reducingthe power consumption by the USB driver 48. In this case, the CPU 40records the data received by the antenna unit 22 to the PC card memory45.

As mentioned above, according to the first embodiment, the recordingdevice 4 and the display device 5 are independently formed and therecording device 4 is detachable to the display device 5 by the USBcable 26 as transfer means for transferring the data. Thus, only therecording device 4 is used to handle the capsule 3. Further, the capsule3 is used by connecting the recording device 4 and the display device 5.Consequently, the load of the patient is reduced and the operability isensured. Further, the recording device 4 is operated in differentoperating modes depending on the presence or absence of the connectionat the USB cable 26.

Each time when the antenna unit 22 receives the image data from thecapsule 3, the CPU 40 or CPU 41 reads time data from the RTC 42, addsthe time data to the received image data (specifically, JPEG data), andstores the image data with a time stamp in the PC card memory 45. FIG. 3shows an image format additionally having the time data with the imagedata.

The display device 5 comprises: a USE receiver 51 which is connected tothe USE driver 48 in the recording device 4 by the USE cable 26, andreceives the JPEG data as the image data transmitted from the USE driver48; a CPU 52 which is connected to the USE receiver 51 via a bus andcontrols the operation of the display device 5 and performs thedecompression processing of the image data; a memory (specifically,SDRAM) 53 which is connected to the bus, temporarily stores the imagedata, and is used as a work area of the CPU 52; a video signalgenerating circuit 54 which is connected to the bus, and performs theprocessing for converting a video signal (e.g., RGB video signal) fordisplaying the image of the image data subjected to the decompressionprocessing by the CPU 52; a monitor 55 which is connected to an outputterminal of the video signal generating circuit 54 and displays thecorresponding image by inputting the RGB video signal or the like as thevideo signal; and a voltage generating circuit 56 which generates thevoltage for detecting whether or not the recording device 4 is connectedby connecting one terminal of the voltage generating circuit 56 to theUSE cable 26.

As mentioned above, when the display device 5 is connected to therecording device 4 by the USE cable 26, the recording device 4transmits, to the display device 5, the image data with the time stampadditionally having the time data. The display device 5 decompresses theJPEG data and displays the received time at the portion on the bottom ofthe image as shown in FIG. 4.

As mentioned above, according to the first embodiment, the recordingdevice 4 stores, in the PC card memory 45, the image data transmittedfrom the capsule 3 as the image data with the time stamp additionallyhaving the received time.

Further, according to the first embodiment, the display device 5 isdetachable to the recording device 4, and the recording device 4 detectswhether or not the display device 5 is connected thereto. When thedisplay device 5 is connected to the recording device 4, the image datawith the time stamp is stored in the PC card memory 45 and istransmitted to the display device 5, thus to check in realtime the imageby displaying the image on the monitor 55 of the display device 5.

When the image does not need to be checked, the USB cable 26 is detachedfrom the recording device 4, and thus the recording device 4 is detachedfrom the display device 5. The USE cable 26 for connection to thedisplay device 5 is not connected to the recording device 4 andtherefore the load of the patient is reduced. The operability (easy use)is improved.

Next, the typical operation will be described with reference to FIG. 2according to the first embodiment.

Upon examining the body by using the capsule 3, when the operation ofthe capsule 3 is checked, the recording device 4 is connected to thedisplay device 5 by the USB cable 26 as shown in FIG. 1, and the powerof the recording device 4 and the display device 5 is turned on as shownin step S1 in FIG. 1, and the power of the capsule 3 is turned on. Inthis case, the recording device 4 is attached to a white cloth or thelike of the patient.

Then, in step S2, the CPU 40 of the recording device 4 determineswhether or not the display device 5 is connected to the CPU 40 (by thevoltage detecting signal from the voltage detecting circuit 49). If theCPU 40 determines that the display device 5 is connected to therecording device 4, in step S3, the CPU 40 opens the clock gate 48 a ofthe USB driver 48, and the clock CLK is supplied to the USB driver 48 to(reset the standby state) and set the operating state.

In step S4, when the CPU 40 receives the image data transmitted from thecapsule 3, the CPU 40 adds the time data of the RTC 42 to the image dataso as to form the image data additionally having the time stamp (asshown in FIG. 3) and stores the image data in the PC card memory 45 inthe recording device 4. Further, the CPU 40 transmits the image dataadditionally having the time stamp to the display device 5 via the USBcable 26.

In step S5, the display device 5 displays the image to which thereceiving time is superimposed.

Specifically, the display device 5 compresses the image additionallyhaving the transmitted time stamp, therefore, the CPU 52 in the displaydevice 5 decompresses the data, and temporarily stores the decompresseddata in the memory (SDRAM) 53. The video signal generating circuit 54transmits the decompressed image data, converts the image data into thevideo signal, and displays the image with the superimposed receivingtime on the display screen of the monitor 55 as shown in FIG. 4.

The processing sequence returns to step S2. By connecting the displaydevice 5 to the recording device 4, the medical staff can check thepicked-up image by the capsule 3 in realtime, and can know the obtainingtime of the image.

After that, the patient swallows the capsule 3 and the medical staff cancheck the image picked-up by the capsule 3 in this state and can knowthe obtaining time of the time. When the image does not need to bemonitored, the USB cable 26 is detached from the recording device 4 andthe load of the patient is reduced.

In this case, when the CPU 40 of the recording device 4 determines instep S2 that the display device 5 is not connected, in step S6, the CPU40 closes the clock gate 48 a of the USB driver 48 and the standby modeis set to prevent the clock CLK from being supplied to the USB driver48.

In step S7, the CPU 40 receives the image data (specifically, JPEG data)transmitted from the capsule 3. Then, the CPU 40 adds the time data ofthe RTC 42 to the image data, set the image data additionally having thetime stamp (as shown in FIG. 3), and stores the image data to the PCcard memory 45 in the recording device 4. The processing sequencereturns to step S2.

When the operation of the capsule 3, recording device 4, and displaydevice 5 is checked after swallowing the capsule 3 by the patient, theUSB cable 26 is not connected to the patient by detaching, from therecording device 4, the USB cable 26 for connecting the recording device4 and the display device 5 and therefore the load of the patient isreduced. In this state, the image data picked-up by the recording device4 is stored.

According to the first embodiment, as processed above, when theoperation is being checked, the recording device 4 is connected to thedisplay device 5 by the USB cable 26. Thus, the receiving time is addedto the image data from the capsule 3 received by the recording device 4and is stored. Further, the image is displayed in realtime on themonitor 55 of the display device 5.

When the image does not need to be checked on the monitor 55, thenecessary image data is stored by using only the recording device 4 bydetaching the USB cable 26 and the display function is not provided.Therefore, the convenience is preferable for the patient withoutincreasing the scale.

By detaching the USB cable 26, the USB driver 48 is set to the standbymode and therefore the energy consumption is reduced.

Therefore, the first embodiment has the following advantages.

That is, the recording device 4 is reduced in size and the living bodyinformation transmitted from the capsule 3 is checked by the displaydevice 5 as needed without failing to record the information. It iseasily checked at the arbitrary time during the examination whether ornot the normal operation is possible.

According to the first embodiment, the receiving strength is detected bythe recording device 4 and the antennas 21 a to 21 c with the highreceiving-strength are switched so as to receive the signals from thecapsule 3.

The receiving strengths of the capsule 3 and the recording device 4 aredisplayed at the designated time interval (when the display device 5 isconnected). In this case, the capsule 3 and the recording device 4control the gain based on the value of the detected receiving strength.

Under the gain control, a predetermined receiving strength is ensured toreceive and transmit the signal by the antenna. If the proper receivingstate is not set under the gain control, the antennas are switched so asto use the antenna for properly receiving the signal.

FIG. 5 shows a state in which the recording device 4 (receiver in FIG.5) receives the signal from the capsule 3 via an antenna (e.g., antenna21 a in FIG. 1) having antenna switching data 0. Referring to FIG. 5,the antennas are switched by using antenna switching 0 to 9.

According to the first embodiment, referring to FIG. 6, a plurality ofexaminations (specifically, Taro and Minoru Iiduka) are opened in thedisplay device 5 and a tab is clicked, thereby displaying thecorresponding image for examination on the display screen of the monitoras a thumbnail image. In this case, the receiving time is displayed onthe bottom of the images.

According to the first embodiment, referring to FIG. 7, it is possibleto change and set the number of divided images displayed once on thedisplay screen of the monitor. In the example of FIG. 7, the image isdivided into 12 images and the interval of the number of divided imagesis changed by changing the number of divided images.

Therefore, the user selects the number of divisions, thereby displayingthe images at the interval of the users desired number of images.

In addition to the above-mentioned operation, the operation may be asfollows according to a modification.

When the display device 5 is connected to the recording device 4, therecording device 4 may transmit the image data to the display device 5without recording the image data in the PC card memory 45.

That is, in the flowchart showing the operation details shown in FIG. 2according to the first embodiment, the time stamp is added to the imagedata from the capsule 3 and the processing details in step S4 aretransmitted to the display device 5 together with the image data havingthe time stamp. The details may be changed to prevent the recording ofthe image data in the PC card memory 45.

Therefore, when the display device 5 is not connected to the recordingdevice 4, the operation is the same as that according to the firstembodiment. As mentioned above, the operating mode of the recordingdevice 4 may be changed depending on the connection or disconnection ofthe display device 5 according to the modification.

When the display device 5 is connected to the recording device 4, a DCvoltage for detecting the connection may be outputted to the voltagedetecting circuit 49 from the display device 5 and the voltage maycharge the battery 36 a or 36 b in the power supply block 25.

FIG. 8 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, a capsular medical apparatus 1B according to thesecond embodiment comprises: the capsule 3; a recording device 4B; andthe display device 5. The recording device 4B according to the secondembodiment is formed by providing, for the recording device 4, a largecapacity EEPROM 61 as a non-volatile memory which is electricallyoverwritten (with a large capacity). That is, according to the secondembodiment, the recording device 4B comprises a plurality of pieces ofinformation recording means for selective use.

Further, according to the second embodiment, in the recording device 4B,the EEPROM 61 with the large capacity is connected via the addressselector 43 to a bus to which the CPUs 41 and 42 and the RTC 42 areconnected, similarly to the SRAM 44. The CPU 40 controls the operationthat the received image data is stored in the large EEPROM 61 when thePC card memory 45 is not attached to the PCMCIA slot 47 in the recordingdevice 4B.

The PC card memory 45 is attached to the recording device 4B. When thePC card memory 45 overflows due to the recording of the image data orthe like, the CPU 40 successively controls the operation to write thedata to the large EEPROM 61.

Other operations are the same as those according to the firstembodiment.

According to the second embodiment, in addition to the advantages of thefirst embodiment, the image data picked-up by the capsule 3 is storedwhen the PC card memory 45 is not attached to the recording device 4B.

FIG. 9 shows a third embodiment of the present invention.

According to the first embodiment, the recording device 4 is connectedto the display device 5 by the USB cable 26. However, according to thethird embodiment, data is communicated between a recording device 400and a display device 500, which form an extracorporeal device 600, byusing an analog video signal cable 260.

Therefore, in place of the USB driver 48 provided for the display device5 according to the first embodiment, a D/A converter 148 is arranged tothe recording device 400 and the living body information is transmittedto the display device 500 via the D/R converter 148. Reference numeral148 a denotes a clock gate.

The display device 500 directly displays the living body information ona monitor 550 because the recording device 400 transmits the living bodyinformation as an analog signal. Reference numeral 560 denotes a voltagegenerating circuit having the same function as that of the voltagegenerating circuit 56 according to the first embodiment.

According to the third embodiment, the recording device 400 transmitsthe living body information as the analog signal to the display device500. Thus, the USB receiver 51 and the CPU 52 which are necessaryaccording to the first embodiment are unnecessary and thus the structureof the display device 500 can be simplified.

As mentioned above, according to the present invention, the operation orthe like is checked by connecting the display device upon starting theapparatus or the like. When the operation check or the like isunnecessary, the display device is detached and thus the load of thepatient is reduced.

According to the above embodiments, the capsule 3 for picking up theoptical image data is used. However, a capsule for obtaining ultrasonicimage data can be used.

In addition to the acquisition of the image data, a capsule having afunction for detecting pH or the like can be used and further a capsulefor medical action such as medicine spray or the like can be used.

Having described the preferred embodiments of the invention referring tothe accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the presentinvention is not limited to the those precise embodiments and variouschanges and modifications thereof could be made by one skilled in theart without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention asdefined in the appended claims.

1. A display apparatus comprising: a monitor for displaying information;a pointing device for accepting operation by an operator; and a personalcomputer for receiving, recording and calculating living bodyinformation sent from a capsule inserted in a living body; wherein themonitor comprises main display portion for sequentially displaying theliving body information according to the information of time of havingreceived the living body information; a thumbnail display portion forselecting as a thumbnail a predetermined image information in the livingbody information displayed on the main display portion and displayingthe same, and a pointing cursor which moves on the monitor by theoperation of the operator, and wherein using the pointing device, thepointing cursor is moved on the main display portion, and when thepredetermined image information is displayed on the main displayportion, the predetermined image information is selected as a thumbnailby clicking the pointing device and displayed on the thumbnail displayportion.
 2. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein aplurality of examination images are simultaneously displayed on themonitor, and when the predetermined image information is displayed onthe main display portion, if the pointing device is clicked, acorresponding thumbnail is selected and displayed on the thumbnaildisplay portion.
 3. The display apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe thumbnail is selected and displayed on the thumbnail displayportion, and at the same time, the date and time of having received thecorresponding living body information is displayed.
 4. The displayapparatus according to claim 2, wherein the thumbnail is selected anddisplayed on the thumbnail display portion, and at the same time, thedate and time of having received the corresponding living bodyinformation is displayed.
 5. The display apparatus according to claim 1,wherein thumbnails are displayed as a list.
 6. The display apparatusaccording to claim 2, wherein thumbnails are displayed as a list.
 7. Thedisplay apparatus according to claim 3 wherein thumbnails are displayedas a list.
 8. The display apparatus according to claim 4, whereinthumbnails are displayed as a list.
 9. The display apparatus accordingto claim 5, wherein the number of thumbnails which are displayed as thelist can be arbitrarily changed.
 10. The display apparatus according toclaim 6, wherein the number of thumbnails which are displayed as thelist can arbitrarily changed.
 11. The display apparatus according toclaim 7, wherein the number of thumbnails which are displayed as thelist can be arbitrarily changed.
 12. The display apparatus according toclaim 8, wherein the number of thumbnails which are displayed as thelist can be arbitrarily changed.
 13. The display apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the thumbnail is displayed, and at the same time, thedate and time of having received the corresponding living bodyinformation is displayed.
 14. The display apparatus according to claim2, wherein the thumbnail is displayed, and at the same time, the dateand time of having received the corresponding living body information isdisplayed.
 15. The display apparatus according to claim 5, wherein thethumbnail is displayed, and at the same time, the date and time ofhaving received the corresponding living body information is displayed.16. The display apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the thumbnail isdisplayed, and at the same time, the date and time of having receivedthe corresponding living body information is displayed.
 17. The displayapparatus according to claim 9, wherein the thumbnail is displayed, andat the same time, the date and time of having received the correspondingliving body information is displayed.
 18. The display apparatusaccording to claim 10, wherein the thumbnail is displayed, and at thesame time, the date and time of having received the corresponding livingbody information is displayed.